Comedian Damian Mason at #PotatoExpo

Damian Mason is a very popular, very funny speaker for agricultural groups that we’ve heard several times at different events but he always has a serious underlying message for his audience.

One topic he hit on at the Potato Expo last week was the organic trend. “I’m not anti-organic, I’m actually pro-organic because it’s a profitable niche and it gives us a chance to do value added differentiation in the grocery store,” said Mason. “The problem with organic for normal, mainstream agriculture is we think it’s about science. It’s not about science … it’s about feelings.”

Mason calls organic the “Prius” of the grocery store. “On paper, you would never buy a Toyota Prius for the economics or the gas savings…people don’t buy a Prius because of the economics, they buy it for the social consciousness.”